Group Intervention Services Essay

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Introduction

The prevalence of depression in today’s society has necessitated the emergence of different measures by health practitioners and social workers. These measures help the affected individuals overcome the challenges of depression. One highly effective strategy usually employed by social workers is group support intervention program. This approach is believed to be exceedingly result-oriented as it has, with verifiable results, helped many affected patients recover from depressive experience. Attesting to the efficacy of peer support interventions for depressed people, Pfeiffer, Heisler, Piette, Rogers and Valenstein (2010, p. 1), in their comparison between peer support and care alone initiatives, evidentially reveal that "peer support interventions have the potential to be effective components of depression care.” However, a group intervention community has many challenges capable of altering the direction and effectiveness of a peer support community.

Common Challenges Experienced in Group Intervention Services

One key challenge an agency can face in group intervention is articulating the group's purpose. Interestingly, the thought of creating a group may be very motivating, having found a void to fill in society by assisting a set of people with depression. However, the challenges begin when as an agency, there is a need to accurately identify the specific aim of the community. A group’s structure must be formulated in a way that adequately meets the needs of the clients. Otherwise, it will be difficult to effect the positive change desired by all parties involved.

One of the lapses in group formulation usually faced by peer support agencies is the lack of commonality in a group. The commonality is needed to make members feel the need for one another to work together to achieve a specific goal and essential to the development of a mutual aid system (Gitterman, 2003, p. 6). Without this clarity, the agency may experience ambiguities which may lead to lack of result and loss of motivation to carry on. Another challenge faced by an agency in a group intervention for depressed people is coping with group members who have issues participating fully in group activities and general discussions. It is crucial that group members share their experience, fears and addiction to help one another overcome the challenges. However, some members, Gianino & Glick (2008, p. 281) observe, despite benefiting from the group social aids, feel detached due to self-disclosure issues. At times, some clients may feel isolated in group activities designed to help them get through the process. This may make them feel withdrawn or even experience a relapse. A situation like this is one of the challenges that can discourage an agency or a social worker, which may defeat or cause a setback to the set objectives for the group.

The challenges in group intervention programs are, however, not limited to agency alone, the community as a whole sometimes faces issues, which may be very perplexing to both the agency and the clients. Group intervention program, by its very nature, is a community-centered affair with the mandate to make individual members access remedy to their problem using a collective approach.

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To that end, a psychiatric intervention community is, on its own, an entity which may be impacted or impaired by any unhealthy circumstances facing it.

One of the obstacles usually experienced by a group of this nature is what Gitterman (2003, p. 5) describes as an organizational obstacle. The obstacle may include loopholes in the agency's structures. When there is the inadequate provision or absolute lack of essentials, for example, "lack of evening hours or the quality of services such as institutional food", the effect is mostly felt on the community as a whole. The group, due to occurrences of this nature is usually grappled with drawbacks that will affect the generality of the group. Another issue customarily faced by an intervention community is the size of the group. While…

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…within a week or month, just as required by the need of the group stressors. For instance, an agency realized that the traditionally weekly hour was insufficient to help youngsters dealing with various school crises effectively. To ensure the effectiveness of the services offered, Gitterman (2003, p.14) recollects that the agency "restructured meetings for greater frequency", this time, twice to three times a week. An initiative like this will reflect positively reflect on all the parties in a group intervention service. The workers will work with better clarity of purpose; the clients will get the value for their resources and time expended on the program, and the community as a whole will experience a healthy atmosphere.

One significant advantage of having a well-articulated group structure is that it can be used for any age or social group. As revealed by Dennison (2008), any targeted demographic can benefit from a well-structured community of intervention group. Dennison in her work shows how different age group including children and adolescents found recourse in various group intervention programs. A group of elementary school children with emotional challenges and a high school group with the challenge of work and dealing with their bosses are some of the demographics (Dennison, 2008, p.315-317) showcased as a testament to the efficacy of social group intervention. Also, a middle school group was also recalled by the author to have leveraged on the power of a healthy group formation to find solutions to their emotional traumas.

Conclusion

From all indications, peer support intervention is one of the most effective ways of solving any traumatic and depressive experience. A community of people fighting a similar cause will not only be beneficial to the affected persons but will also reduce the societal stigma as members get to understand they are not alone in the fight. However, a premium must be paid on the clarity of purpose in a group setting in order….....

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